Posted: 20 Jan 2010 05:25 AM PST

Grub Street South at Buttonwood, a workshop for writers, will meet at 7 p.m., on Tuesday, Jan. 26, at Buttonwood Books & Toys, Shaw's Plaza, Route 3A, Cohasset. Instructor is Chris Abouzeid, and his topic will be " Plot Sprints & Other Exercises: How to Get Your Page Turner Mojo Working."

There's no secret to coming up with great plots. It just takes practice. In the session, the class will explore a variety of exercises to pump up the plot muscles in one's brain and get people seeing everything in terms of love, murder, madness and mayhem. Abouzeid is the author of the young adult novel, "Anatopsis." His short stories, poetry and book reviews have appeared in The Boston Globe, "AGNI" magazine, The Literary Review, Epoch and several other publications. His awards include grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Massachusetts Artists Foundation and Honorable Mentions from the Pushcart Prize. He lives in Somerville.

Reservations are requested and can be made by calling Buttonwood at 781-383-2665.

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Friend of Burma Missing in Haiti Earthquake - The Irrawaddy News Magazine

Posted: 20 Jan 2010 04:49 AM PST

When the cataclysmic 7.0 earthquake struck the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince on Jan. 12, solar energy expert Walt Ratterman was at the city's Hotel Montana. He had just completed a project bringing solar energy to rural health facilities in Haiti and was to meet with NGO workers at the hotel, which was transformed in an instant into a lethal mass of concrete rubble by the earthquake.

Ratterman has not been heard from since––one of dozens of international humanitarian workers at the Hotel Montana and tens of thousands of Haitians throughout the country.

A highly respected alternative energy technology adviser, Ratterman was the originator of a project on the Thai-Burmese border which has trained numerous backpack medics to build and use small portable solar units which provide light for emergency surgery in Burma's conflict areas.

Ratterman also introduced solar energy training to a wide array of locations from Tibet to Rwanda. His humanitarian aid work with the Knightsbridge group was profiled in the documentary "Beyond the Call."

As of Jan. 20, international search and rescue teams are continuing attempts to locate any survivors in the ruins of the Hotel Montana. An emergency assistance group which includes Ratterman's son Shane is at the site. His daughter, Briana started a "Walt Ratterman - Haiti Mission" Facebook page to help coordinate the search. The Columbian, a newspaper in Ratterman's home state of Washington, quoted Briana: "Since he was reported missing, support has been coming in from all over the world. People are praying for him in Burma, Rwanda, Pakistan, Palestine."

Edith Mirante is a frequent contributor of articles and book reviews for The Irrawaddy.

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Book Reviews - Seattle Post Intelligencer

Posted: 18 Jan 2010 12:41 AM PST

Johnny Reb and Billy Yank had a secret life, one that they and their families tried to hide from posterity and Ken Burns.

They largely succeeded. Most men left no record of their sexual activities, or if they did, their survivors expurgated or expunged the record through destruction; the reality was a bit too seamy for pure sensibilities, legacies needed to be protected. Reports of wild times and venereal disease were not likely to be appreciated by descendants.

Thus the Civil, our most holy, War, ennobled at the time and forevermore as a moral cause by both sides, has been stripped of that most human and earthy dimension and instinct. War is a rite of passage for all young boys and men, and leaving home for the first time, to a large degree innocent and inexperienced, they often become unmoored from traditional, peacetime standards of moral behavior and drift into those of wartime, which is to say, the world turned upside down and violently shaken.

But in a volume that might otherwise be buried deep within the annals of weird books, The Story the Soldiers Wouldn't Tell: Sex in the Civil War (Stackpole, 1994), Thomas Lowry, M.D., addresses and fills, through diligent, original research that at the time of the book's publication unearthed a wealth of new material, that lacuna in the military record. Collectors of general military history, Civil War, or sexology literature should consider adding it to their shelves.

"There is a whole city of whores. Yes, father, a whole city. They have laid out a village to the east of where the railroad bends to the docks" (Young worker in the Sanitary Commission, City Point, Virginia, 1864).

"This section of the country seems to abound in in very bad women" (Sgt. A.L. Vairin, Dec. 27, 1862, near Weldon, NC).

"There has been a bonfire in the rear of my tent, burning up a large quantity of obscene books, taken from the mails" (Marsena Patrick, provost marshal general of the Army of the Potomac, June 8, 1863).

Those who follow modern shenanigans within shorts inside the Beltway will be unsurprised to learn that, according to file Volume 298, RG 393, Register of the Provost Marshall, 22d Army Corps, in 1864-65 there were seventy-three bawdy houses in Washington D.C. to service our servicemen. The register notes names, addresses, number of "Inmates," and "Class," i.e. 1 is best, 2 is fair, 3 is poor, and "low" is bad. Most houses had from 1-5 women in their employ, and earned a "1'" or a "2." Mary Taylor, however, had six girls working for her; her brothel was, however, rated ""low." One house stands out amongst all the others. Elizabeth Harley, at 4 Maryland, Island, ran a #1 rated brothel, apparently the city's high-end, big-box flesh retailer, featuring eighteen women.

The register also lists "coloured" bawdy houses. Of the twelve noted, only two brothels were rated #1, with two and five workers. Four were rated "low," one of which, Josephine Webster's Fighting Alley, employed twelve; a cheap crib house that earned its name.

Poor John B. Fletcher. In his diary we learn that, headed north to home by steamboat in 1863, he is waylaid by temptation in Memphis; her name is Woman. His resolve to get back home as soon as possible is foiled by too much funnin'.

Dec. 14th. Dwight and myself went to the theatre last night. Had a good time. I hardly know when I shall start up the river.

Dec. 15th. It's a pleasant kind of day. Indeed I must start up today or tomorrow without fail.

Dec. 16th. I'm still with Dwight. I am enjoying myself very much.Dec. 17th. A very cold kind of morning. Dwight and myself went to the theatre last night. Had a first-rate time. I should go up the river in two or three days.

Dec. 18th. It's a very pleasant morning. I intend to leave here tomorrow without fail. Had an introduction to Miss Annie Renney.

Dec. 19th. I have not gone yet. Shall go on the first boat. Spent the afternoon with Annie Renney. FXXXX good. Had a first-rate time.

Dec. 20th. I had a first-rate time last night with Annie. FXXXX good. I do hope there will be a boat going up today. I am very anxious to get north.

Of course he is. One more night with this war's Memphis Belle and the poor guy's a goner.

On June 27, 1863, the 14th North Carolina Regiment captured a large supply of Yankee whiskey at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. A musician in the regiment's band (band musicians, then as now, traditional suspects in matters of vice) reported that "some of the Pennsylvania women, hearing the noise of the revel and the music, dared to come near us. Soon they had formed the center of attention and joined in the spirit of the doings. After much whiskey and dancing, they shed most of their garments and offered us their bottoms. Each took on dozens of us, squealing in delight. For me it was hard come, easy go."

Prostitution and war are nothing new. It is comforting, however, to discover that the years 1860-1865 in the U.S. were not simply a long, bloody exercise in ideals and righteousness, however justified.

There are virtually no records of homosexual offenses being prosecuted in the military at the time simply because the word "homosexual" did not exist in the English language until 1895. Yet homosexual behavior did occur; statistically, it was inevitable. Lowry discusses it at length.

Lowry, a doctor and historian who earned his M.D. at Stanford, served in the U.S. Air Force, and was on staff at the Masters and Johnson clinic 1972-73, also discusses the incidence of rape, venereal disease, contemporary pornography, officers who were not gentlemen, and other aspects of sexuality during the war.

No social (history of the United States would be complete without a look at the clergy down and dirty. Modern examples of moral hypocrisy within the ranks of religious authority figures are found in abundance, with the commandment to "be fruitful and multiply" taken to extremes much appreciated by late-night comedians. Lowry recounts the stories of a few clergymen who notoriously tended to their flock with their pants down.

You are forgiven if you've never heard of the Very Reverend James Cook Richmond, an Episcopal priest, evangelical, and chaplain to the 2d Wisconsin Regiment of Infantry Volunteers. He was in the public ai ai ai! in 1863.

Seems he developed an obsessive erotomania for Miss Rosa Bielaski, a copyist working in the Treasury Building in Washington, D.C., and sent her a series of letters that became increasingly and compulsively obscene. Beginning in April, by May the unwelcome missives had become desperate epistles with four-letter pleas to wet his whistle, written in a frantic scrawl and illustrated with exceedingly graphic sexual imagery.

A military investigation concluded that Rev. Richmond was "a really wicked, lewd man and probably insane," and recommended that he be dismissed from the Army and placed in "an insane asylum." Yet he, like so many modern members of Congress of similar temperament and mental state, was simply asked to leave the shining city upon a swamp. Only a week later, he spoke at a rally of his work in "driving the devil out of Washington"; he did not, apparently, require the services of a chauffeur. But the lesson was not learned: Three years later, Rev. Richmond was murdered by the sharecropper who worked his farm. Richmond's offense? In yet another ongoing fit of erotomania, he had called the man's mother and sister black strumpets and whores; he had, it seems, experienced their reluctant charms.

It would be a mistake to conclude that all sexual matters during the Civil War were seamy. There is much tenderness and depth of feeling in much if not most correspondence between soldiers and their wives or betrothed. It sometimes belies the notion that decent, God-fearing 19th century middle class American women were not capable of sexual passion and satisfaction.

In a letter dated November 25, 1863 to her "dear and intended husband," Julia Higgins of Mills Springs, VA writes with great yearning for her fianc:

"I love you with all my heart and with all my mind and long to see you Dear Jim. My mind dwells on the treasures we will have when you come back, embracing each other on the sofa and bed. I never felt so good as I did the first time I laid on the sofa. I wish it would last - always it is my daily thought to think of you and the good feelings we will have when you come home. You must not let anyone see this letter. Lay it next to your heart."

It is a letter that stands as testimony to the foolish reasons men go off to war and the only noble goal that remains after ideals are shattered by grim reality: To get home alive and in one piece to rest in the warm, naked embrace of one's love. It is a tender, aching, intimate battle hymn of the republic.

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Self-published Book Bags 2009 Readers Favorite Award - Newswiretoday.com

Posted: 20 Jan 2010 01:07 AM PST

Bill Poje, author of the self-published title, Painless, bagged the first prize for the fiction thriller category in the Reader's Favorite Book Reviews and Awards Contest.

With more than a thousand authors from all over the US who joined the event, this self-published book grabbed the highly coveted gold award alongside other winners in other categories.

Founded by Debra Gaynor, Reader's Favorite aims to provide quality books to readers as well as help authors gain more publicity and recognition through credible book reviews and a Book Contest.

Readers Favorite believes that book awards have a huge impact on influencing booksellers and buyers alike. Through their honest book reviews, authors are pointed out issues and given suggestions for areas of their book that need improvement.

Winners of the Reader's Favorite awards were announced last January 15, 2010.

Painless is a story of a man named Augustus 'Aug' Valentine who seems to have everything going in his personal and professional life until his life turns around a riddle of deceit and the portent of death.

Painless is published by Xlibris.

About the Author
Bill Poje holds a Bachelors degree in Accounting/Business Administration from Aquinas College and an MBA in Finance and Operations from the Owen Graduate School of Management in Vanderbilt. He became the financial controller for the largest exporter in the Bahamas , after which he moved back to the US to write books.

Bill Poje's family also sponsors the Poje Scholarship, Poje Award and Poje Banquet at Aquinas College.

He is currently working on the sequel to Painless as well as essays, short stories and poetry.

About Xlibris

Xlibris (xlibris.com) was founded in 1997 and, as the leading publishing services provider for authors, has helped to publish more than 20,000 titles. Xlibris is based in Bloomington, IN and provides authors with direct and personal access to quality publication in hardcover, trade paperback, custom leather-bound, and full-color formats.

Children's Book Reviews - Publishers Weekly

Posted: 18 Jan 2010 06:03 AM PST

Picture Books

Cat the Cat, Who Is That? Mo Willems. HarperCollins/Balzer & Bray, $12.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-172840-2

In Cat the Cat's friendly world, names are an uncomplicated affair, most of the time. This early reader pictures Cat, an irrepressible kitty in a purple dress, skipping and cartwheeling to greet pals like Mouse the Mouse and Fish the Fish. All is well until Cat meets a chartreuse creature with eyestalks, a blue tongue, four arms, and three legs. She skids to a halt and her tail electrifies. The individual, unrecognizable but clearly amiable, stops stacking blocks to say, "Blarggie! Blarggie!" This time Cat's initial response to the repeated question, "Cat the Cat, who is that?" is "I have no idea," but Cat finally decides this might be "a new friend!" and responds with a bouncy "Blarggie!" of her own. Willems provides just enough humor and surprise to entertain youngest audiences and subtly suggests some future reading: Duck the Duck cradles a Pigeon doll, and in a second book being released simultaneously—Let's Say Hi to Friends Who Fly!—another character rides a Pigeon playground toy. Cat could become another favorite; her personality sparkles in expansive gestures and gleeful interactions. Up to age 5. (Feb.)

Back to Bed, Ed! Sebastien Braun. Peachtree, $15.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-56145-518-8

A young mouse named Ed loves bedtime rituals, from bath time to story time to getting tucked in—it's the actual staying in his bed that he can't stand. Tired of dealing with their offspring-interloper (and just plain tired from having their sleep interrupted), Mom and Dad put a "Closed" sign on the bedroom door. But it's only after Ed himself comes up with a solution—packing his bed with all his stuffed animal pals—that he's able to stay put without a fuss. Braun's (On Our Way Home) reportorial tone ("The next morning they slept through the alarm. Dad was late for work. Ed was late for preschool") establishes a calm but sympathetic mood for an anxiety-ridden subject, while his sturdy-looking, boldly colored cartoon vignettes provide plenty of visual reassurance, even when the emotional stakes are high. Most important, Braun ties the resolution to Ed's own ingenuity, and makes it clear that being able to comfort oneself doesn't just make life easier for everyone—it also represents an impressive (and enviable) leap forward. Ages 2–6. (Feb.)

Slow Down for Manatees Jim Arnosky. Putnam, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-399-24170-3

Arnosky (A Manatee Morning) again focuses on this gentle marine mammal in a story inspired by an actual incident. A fast-moving boat hits a manatee swimming in a shallow Florida canal, crushing her ribs and slicing her back and tail with its propeller. Rescuers move the animal to an aquarium, where her wounds heal and she gives birth to a calf. After mother and baby are returned to the wild, a sign is placed in the waterway, warning skippers to slow down and watch for manatees. "And from then on, that's exactly what the boaters did," writes the author, in a happy if perhaps overly optimistic ending. With the exception of a few striking night scenes, Arnosky's acrylic artwork most resembles vintage "Greetings from Florida!" postcards, as pale washes bring to life the aquamarine waters, fuchsia sunrises, and assorted wildlife of the tropical setting. Text and art work in tandem to present a portrait of a gentle, innocent creature ("She wasn't in a hurry. She had all the time in the world"). A solid addition to naturalist Arnosky's oeuvre. Ages 3–5. (Feb.)

The Barefooted, Bad-Tempered Baby Brigade Deborah Diesen, illus. by Tracy Dockray. Tricycle, $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-58246-274-5

Fed up with patronizing, rule-wielding grownups, an entire population of babies organizes a protest march—well, waddle—to town hall ("We're slow, but we'll get there"), where they insist that their parents listen to their demands. "Stop tickling our tootsies and kissing our noses!/ Stop calling us sweet and adorable names!/ Stop blowing loud raspberries right on our bellies!/ And stop, oh please STOP, with those peekaboo games!" Will the mothers and fathers finally listen, or just find this too, utterly adorable? Although a far-too-wistful ending holds the story back from being a satiric tour de force, Diesen (The Pout-Pout Fish) gets the we're-not-gonna-take-it tone exactly right ("Take notes. You will need them. We'll try to be clear"), while scoring a few direct hits on contemporary parenting ("We won't play with smart toys to skip us a grade"). Dockray (The Tushy Book) gleefully and vividly reimagines babies' chunky, blunt physicality as the manifestation of civil disobedience—after closing this book, it will be difficult to look at anyone under 36 months and not see a budding Emma Goldman or Eugene V. Debs. Ages 3–6. (Mar.)

Boom Boom Go Away! Laura Geringer, illus. by Bagram Ibatoulline. S&S/Atheneum, $15.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-689-85093-6

Geringer's (A Three Hat Day) bouncy beats and sound effects will have musical readers all a-clamor. The cover pictures a toy gnome and his drum under a tent of a storybook that reads, "A Most Unusual Bedtime Story," and the story's energetic action exploits readers' after-dinner punchiness. It all starts with the gnome pounding away at his drum: "And when his mama said,/ 'You had better go to bed,'/ He said, 'Hush!/ Don't spoil the rhythm/ Of my drum." A repeating "boom boom" in bold display type alternates with the gnome's spoken "Go away!" One by one, restless toys join in—tapping a gong ("ding ding"), shaking bells ("bong bong"), blasting a horn, and tooting a bassoon. The chorus grows ("Go away. plong plong clink clink bong bong... Go away!") as their mingled music and voices spill across the spreads. Ibatoulline (Great Joy) pictures the dolls in closeup in a playroom, gathering blocks and sitting down to form an onomatopoeic orchestra. Geringer's foreword credits the Dalcroze method of musical improvisation for inspiring this physical sequence, and single or multiple performers can generate satisfying harmony or noisy discord. Ages 3–6. (Feb.)

What Will You Be, Sara Mee? Kate Aver Avraham, illus. by Anne Sibley O'Brien. Charlesbridge, $16.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-58089-210-0; $7.95 paper ISBN 978-1-58089-211-7

The collaborators' close connection to their book's theme—Avraham (Joey's Way) has an adopted Korean daughter, and O'Brien grew up in a bicultural family in South Korea—adds authenticity and warmth to this story of a Korean-American girl's first birthday celebration. Sara Mee's extended family and friends gather for a traditional tol, at which items representing various professions are placed before her; the object she first touches designates her future path. The narrator, Sara Mee's cheerful six-year-old brother, Chong, is honored to be a key participant in the ceremony and is thrilled when his sister reaches for a symbolic paintbrush. Chong gives her paper and crayons, and she draws pictures for which he—who at his own tol made a choice that evidently predicted a writing career—supplies the text. Rendered in ink brushline and watercolor, O'Brien's (the Jamaica series) illustrations are welcoming, if not especially memorable; there's no real emotional range beyond genial smiles exhibited among the members of Sara Mee's family. Avraham provides a glossary of Korean words used in the story. Ages 3–6. (Feb.)

Porky and Bess Ellen Weiss and Mel Friedman, illus. by Marsha Winborn. Random, $12.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-375-85458-3

The authors assuredly tread on tried-and-true turf with this cheery, wryly titled early reader starring two best friends who, readers learn, "could not have been more different." However, it's only early on that any time is spent on their differences. Porky is a rumpled pig whose house is a sty-worthy mess: dirty hoof-shaped socks litter the floor and the three-day-old bread he favors is stored in an unorthodox spot ("He liked to keep it on the kitchen chair"). Bess is a stylish, proper cat who likes everything perfect ("The perfecter, the better") and whose three feisty kittens are named Two, Three, and Bunky. But these personal preferences have little bearing on the evident friendship between the animals. One evening, they create a "moon cake," mixing into the batter the key ingredient, "foggy-night-on-the-water." And by the end, Porky has completed his poem to Bess after finally finding a word that rhymes with "end," a blank that readers will likely have filled in long before. Winborn's (the Digby and Kate series) lighthearted, detail-filled pictures lend warmth and brightness to the by-the-numbers story line. Ages 4–7. (Feb.)

The Little Red Hen and the Passover Matzah Leslie Kimmelman, illus. by Paul Meisel. Holiday House, $16.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8234-1952-4

Such a clever idea! Make the Little Red Hen into a balabusta (that's Yiddish for a singularly sensational homemaker/matriarch/keeper of the spiritual flame), set the story during the Jewish holiday that turns every home into a sacred space, and watch a familiar tale become exponentially funnier and, yes, more meaningful. By the time Kimmelman (Mind Your Manners, Alice Roosevelt!), a terrifically conversational storyteller, and Meisel (Barnyard Slam), a slyly astute cartoonist (Sheep looks truly sheepish), are done, readers of all faiths will know a lot more than some emotionally evocative Yiddish words. They'll also understand why Passover whips Jewish mothers into a frenzy ("The Little Red Hen had cleaned her house, top to bottom. There wasn't a crumb of bread to be found anywhere"), and why, even after all her schlepping and kvetching and unassisted matzo making, LRH still cannot turn away her "no-goodnik" friends when they have the chutzpah to show up at her seder. Oh, and one more thing: those who clean up after the seder while their hostess puts her feet up can find redemption for even the most egregious shortcomings. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)

Small Florence, Piggy Pop Star Claire Alexander. Albert Whitman, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8075-7455-3

This clever Cinderella retelling writes the prince out of the action and substitutes the heartfelt wish of many a young TV watcher: pop star celebrity. Florence's older sisters are sure they're the ones with talent, and they prepare for their appearance on television with all the affectation and scorn of the original stepsisters ("Those boots are so last year!" they shout as they pick out their stage costumes). But Florence practices in secret, and when the big day comes, the sisters freeze and Florence's performance wows the judges and clinches her pop career. (Subsequently, she makes a name for herself with "songs about love, life, and vegetarianism.") Working mostly in midnight blues and spotlight yellows—and piggy pink, of course—Alexander's (Lucy and the Bully) spots, multiple panels, and three-quarter page spreads add flash to the pages. Florence's big voice is represented by enormous swirls of blue, and Alexander has a good time imagining the things animals on a pop star show might sing about ("Bright ears burning like fire..." croons a bunny into a microphone). Many laughs will find Florence lots of fans. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)

Pink Me Up Charise Mericle Harper. Knopf, $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-375-85607-5

Harper (the Fashion Kitty series) delivers a frothy tale that will most appeal to girls with an untiring love of all things pink. Clad ears to toe in that color, a rabbit is excited that the day of the "Pink Girls Pink-nic" has arrived, until Mama wakes up sick ("Why is Mama wearing pink spots? Did you put them on specially for the party?"). When Daddy offers to accompany the girl instead, she'll have none of it, exclaiming "Boys are NOT pink!" A pink necktie isn't quite enough, but after he announces, "We just have to pink me up," she decorates his clothes with pink marker, tape, and stickers and deems him "perfectly pink." He's a hit at the party—and she's the envy of all her friends. Rendered in acrylic, Harper's characteristically unadorned, childlike cartoons add to the book's whimsy and rosy exaggeration (exclamation points and the color pink go hand in hand, and both are used with abandon). Even readers who aren't as single-minded when it comes to colors will empathize with the heroine's emotional highs and lows. Ages 5–8. (Feb.)

Fiction

Sweet and Sunny Coleen Murtagh Paratore. Scholastic Press, $16.99 (192p) ISBN 978-0-545-07582-4

In this follow-up to Sunshine Holiday, the eponymous heroine of that novel retains her steadfast optimism despite rough patches in her life. Narrator Sunny misses her father, who is still in prison ("Daddy made a big mistake, and he's very sorry for it"). Her mother has lost her job as a hotel chambermaid and is having trouble finding work. And Mrs. Lullaby, her beloved fourth-grade teacher, is dismissed by the "never-smile principal," Mr. Otis ("All he cares about are tests.... All she cares about is teaching"). Taking matters into her own hands, the sassy, stubborn girl manages to find a potential job for her mother and to get her teacher rehired. Sunny's other missions include making Valentine's Day "even sweeter" and using her recent appointment as junior deputy mayor of her town to plan "the first annual Kid's Day," a subplot that gets short shrift. Sunny's observations favor the use of hyphens—Mrs. Lullaby's face shines "like a teacher-apple" and her class takes a "butterflies-in-our-tummies test"—and can be syrupy. A satisfying if predictable finale lives up to the book's title. Ages 7–10. (Feb.)

The Mysterious Howling Maryrose Wood, illus. by Jon Klassen. HarperCollins/Balzer & Bray, $15.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-06-179105-5

In this humorous kickoff to the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series, Wood (My Life: The Musical) injects new life into the governess theme by charging genteel 15-year-old Penelope Lumley (educated at the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females) with three wild children—Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia—who were raised in the woods and taken into the "care" of Lord Frederic Ashton and his selfish, superficial bride (the children are living in a barn when Penelope arrives). With a Snicketesque affect, Wood's narrative propels the drama; Penelope is a standout, often invoking the truisms of her school's founder ("The best way to find out how fast a horse can run is to smack it on the rump") while caring for the Incorrigibles—named such so they won't be presumed Ashton's heirs. Despite the slapstick situations involving the children's disheveled appearance, pack behavior, and lack of language, the real barbarism comes from the Ashtons and a society that eagerly anticipates their failure. Though the novel ends a bit abruptly, the pervasive humor and unanswered questions should have readers begging for more. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12. (Feb.)

The Sixty-Eight Rooms Marianne Malone, illus. by Gina Triplett. Random, $16.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-375-85710-2

Debut author Malone pens a fantasy tale of museum time travel that suffers from an underdeveloped cast of characters and some disappointing plotting decisions. When daring 11-year-old Jack finds a key in the hallway behind the Thorne Rooms, 68 miniature historical dioramas housed in the Art Institute of Chicago, he hands it to his best friend, Ruthie, a cautious girl who yearns for excitement. To their shock, she shrinks to five inches tall. After figuring out how to shrink Jack down, the duo hide in the hallway past closing time, try on fancy clothes and armor, battle a cockroach, and are thrilled to find that doors lead out from the rooms into the actual past. Cop-outs abound, there are no villains to speak of, and the sixth-graders generally seem too good to be true ("You mean you've never been to the Thorne Rooms?" Jack asks Ruthie early on. "I thought everyone had!"). Readers will find little excitement in either the time travelogue or the clinical descriptions of the genuinely delightful Thorne Rooms, which deserve better. Ages 8–12. (Feb.)

The Hidden Boy Jon Berkeley. HarperCollins/Tegen, $16.99 (272p) ISBN 978-0-06-168758-7

Berkeley's (the Wednesday Tales trilogy) first offering in the Bell Hoot Fables series is a whimsical fantasy adventure in the tradition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Pippi Longstocking. No one in Bea Flint's family claims to remember entering the raffle that has won them a "Blue Moon Once-in-a-Lifetime Adventure Holiday," but they jump at the chance for a free trip. Despite skepticism about traveling on an amphibious "busmarine" that departs from a local car wash, they soon find themselves in the land of Bell Hoot. But Bea's seven-year-old brother, Theo, has disappeared during the journey, and as Bea, a girl who "was more often to be found reading encyclopedias than anything else," searches for him, she finds herself growing into abilities she never dreamed of. Meanwhile, one of nine local clans, the Ledbetters, is just as determined to find Theo, to whom they have laid claim according to custom. Berkeley's prose and plotting gleam with humor and originality; this fast-paced tale should readily win over readers, who will be eager for a return visit to Bell Hoot. Ages 8–12. (Feb.)

The Lost Children Carolyn Cohagan. S&S/Aladdin, $16.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-4169-8616-4

With a quirky and charming style that should draw in readers from the outset, Cohagan's debut is a gently creepy, captivating fantasy about loss, determination, and hope. Josephine is 12 years old and desperately lonely. One day, a mysterious boy, Fargus, appears at her house, mute and hungry. Fargus has been fascinated with Josephine ever since he found the "crack" between their worlds, but he never expected her to accidentally follow him back to the land of Gulm, ruled by the evil "Master," where children are taken from their families and fear has hold of the townspeople. Fargus and his friend Ida escape with Josephine to avoid becoming the Master's next victims. When Josephine is separated from her friends and they are taken captive, she must determine her connection to the Master and confront him to rescue them. There are some brutal moments (Ida's parents are murdered in cold blood), but the atmosphere of peril is generally light and the puzzle of what happened to the missing children is managed well, without being too disturbing to the intended audience. Ages 8–12. (Feb.)

The Thirteenth Princess Diane Zahler. Harper, $15.99 (256p) ISBN 978-0-06-182498-2

Reworking the familiar ground of The Twelve Dancing Princesses into a story of resourcefulness and a loving heart, Zahler's debut deftly and thoughtfully embellishes the tale's classic elements. Banished to the life of a serving girl in the royal palace after her mother died in childbirth, Zita, at age seven, is shocked to learn she is the 13th daughter of harsh King Aricin. The sisters cherish Zita's stealthy visits to their bedroom via a hidden dumbwaiter, and despite the princesses' inability to secure husbands (they are rendered mute in the presence of suitors), all seems well until Zita turns 12 and her sisters sicken and take to their beds. As the princesses grow paler and more feeble, Zita's only clues are her sisters' mysteriously worn-out shoes. Suspecting evil magic, Zita enlists her friends—Breckin the stable boy, his soldier brother Milek, and Babette the forest witch—to help her. Zahler takes a light story and gives it gratifying depth, rounding out the characters and their motivations without betraying the source material and wrapping it all together in a graceful and cohesive romantic drama. Ages 8–12. (Feb.)

Lucky: Maris, Mantle, and My Best Summer Ever Wes Tooke. Simon & Schuster, $15.99 (192p) ISBN 978-1-4169-8663-8

Louis May's father has remarried, so the 12-year-old is facing his first summer living with his disapproving stepmother and resentful stepbrother in White Plains, N.Y. His fortunes change when he catches a foul ball at a Yankees game, depriving the opposing fielder of making an out. His game-saving play earns him a meeting with the batter he helped: Roger Maris. Louis's exhaustive knowledge of player statistics—Mickey Mantle dubs him "the walking baseball card"—improbably earns him a chance to be the team's batboy. Thus Louis has a dugout seat for one of baseball's greatest dramas—Mantle and Maris chasing Babe Ruth's single-season home run record in 1961. A subplot about Louis's mother, who left his father to live among beatnik poets, isn't fully fleshed out. The pleasures in Tooke's debut are voyeuristic, as kids get to go behind the scenes to learn about two legends through Louis, who realizes collecting cards is no match for knowing the men behind the pinstripes. Says Louis: "It was like the difference between someone who collected stamps from foreign countries and someone who actually traveled the world." Ages 8–up. (Feb.)

The Clone Codes Patricia C., Fredrick L., and John McKissack. Scholastic Press, $16 (192p) ISBN 978-0-439-92983-7

Thirteen-year-old Leanna has run from slave catchers with Harriet Tubman thanks to a virtual reality history class. Yet like many people in the year 2170, she believes clones aren't human, and thus keeping them as slaves doesn't bother her. But Leanna's world is shaken when her mother and a close family friend are arrested as suspected traitors for wanting to give clones civil rights. And when a discovery turns her world upside down and she makes a friend who belongs to a group she believed to be nearly as bad as clones, Leanna discovers that saving herself and her mother means joining the fight for clone equality. But even being immersed in the oppressed culture does not lead to Leanna's instant conversion. The McKissacks (Days of Jubilee), working with their son John for the first time, portray a plugged-in 22nd-century America that is recognizably descended both from contemporary prejudices as well as a modern reliance on technology. The story is tight and fast-paced, yet makes room for historical parallels that are vivid without being preachy. An intriguing start to a planned trilogy. Ages 9–12. (Feb.)

Hex Hall Rachel Hawkins. Disney-Hyperion, $16.99 (336p) ISBN 978-1-4231-2130-5

Hawkins's proficient and entertaining debut is jam-packed with magical creatures and mystery. With no training on how to use the powers inherited from her absent warlock father, Sophie Mercer keeps making rookie mistakes that force her mother to move them around the country to avoid attention. But when, at age 16, Sophie makes a very public error with a love spell at the prom, she is sent to Hecate Hall, "the premier reformatory institution for Prodigium adolescents" (aka troubled shape-shifters, faeries, and witches like Sophie). She hits it off with her vampire roommate, Jenna, but three gorgeous and powerful witches have declared Sophie an enemy (she nicknames them the "Witches of Clinique"); she has a wicked crush on someone else's boyfriend; and at least one teacher is out to get her. When attacks on students get pinned on Jenna, Sophie is determined to find the true culprit. Sophie stumbles into answers more than searches them out, but the story is well paced and plotted with tween-friendly humor and well-developed characters, particularly awkward but compassionate Sophie. The ending satisfies while paving the way for future books. Ages 11–up. (Mar.)

The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin Josh Berk. Knopf, $16.99 (208p) ISBN 978-0-375-85699-0

New student Will Halpin is overweight and deaf, and he adeptly eavesdrops on conversations by lip-reading while his own inner monologue is off and running. Debut author Berk injects Will's narrative voice with humor, irreverence, and self-deprecation; readers are also privy to Will's occasional horny thoughts about girls, which are funny and genuine without being overly vulgar ("The first thing I notice is this: public school girls are freaking hot. Nice. I try to focus on that and not on the sinking feeling that it might be way harder not to fail here than I thought"). Midway through, the story really takes off: after a football player takes a spill down a mineshaft on a field trip, Will and his new friend Devon try to solve the mystery of the student's death. Investigations into sleazy teachers and liked (and not-so-well-liked) classmates ensue. Much of the book's second half takes place in IMs between Will and Devon, which push the story forward at a lively pace. An engrossing whodunit that subtly draws attention to social issues surrounding deafness. Ages 12–up. (Feb.)

Rikers High Paul Volponi. Viking, $16.99 (256p) ISBN 978-0-670-01107-0

Volponi (Homestretch) recasts his adult novel, Rikers (Black Heron, 2002), for a teen audience that will likely be riveted. Seventeen-year-old Martin Stokes has been imprisoned for five months, awaiting trial for a petty crime. Returning from court, he cannot get out of the way when another inmate attacks the boy to whom he is shackled. Martin's face is slashed with a razor; the ensuing scar is a metaphor for the mark prison will leave on the boy, who is no angel (he tells his harried legal aid lawyer she is a "miserable shit"), but whose punishment bears absolutely no relationship to his crime. His break comes when a jailhouse teacher helps him see the importance of finishing school, setting Martin on a path to make the right choice when he's yet again thrust into a violent altercation not of his own making. Volponi, who taught on Rikers Island for six years, writes with an authenticity that will make readers feel Martin's fear. Ages 12–up. (Feb.)

In a Heartbeat Loretta Ellsworth. Walker, $16.99 (224p) ISBN 978-0-8027-2068-9

When the life of 16-year-old Eagan, an accomplished figure skater, comes to a sudden and tragic end, 14-year-old Amelia, who suffers from congestive heart failure, gains a chance for survival ("someone else had to die for me to live," she thinks. "...when my family prayed for a new heart for me, we were praying for that to happen"). In straightforward, stirring prose that alternates between the girls' perspectives, Ellsworth (In Search of Mockingbird) explores the intimate and mysterious connection between organ donor and recipient. While Eagan finds herself in a foggy place where she has flashbacks of her past, Amelia, recovering from the transplant, feels different, like the new heart "was sitting in a space that wasn't quite right." Her memories and dreams seem to belong to someone else at times, making her wonder whether she's inherited more than a vital organ. The book's climax—involving a meeting between Eagan's parents and Amelia—feels manufactured and somewhat rushed, but the emotions of the two protagonists are painstakingly fine-tuned. Readers will likely come away teary eyed and inspired to become organ donors themselves. Ages 12–up. (Feb.)

After Kristin Harmel. Delacorte, $16.99 (240p) ISBN 978-0-385-73476-9

This bittersweet book follows 16-year-old Lacey Mann, who feels responsible for the car accident that killed her father 10 months earlier. "A hundred times a day, I thought about how different life would be if I hadn't insisted on taking those extra moments in the bathroom," she thinks. Well-meaning Lacey wants to help her mother and brothers cope, but the family is disconnected in their grieving. What's more, her focus on her family has prevented her from dealing with her own emotions or forgiving herself. When a classmate's mother dies, Lacey is inspired to start a club for students whose parents have passed away. Harmel (When You Wish) wrote about such a group for People magazine, where she is a longtime contributor, which inspired this book. Her depictions of the forms grief takes are realistically wide-ranging, including self-blame, anger, and alcohol abuse. For Lacey, a relationship with a boy named Sam helps her confront her feelings and finally begin to move forward. Though the book is sometimes overly sentimental, its lessons about family, friendship, loss, and the enduring power of love should stick with readers. Ages 12–up. (Feb.)

Undead Much Stacey Jay. Penguin/Razorbill, $8.99 paper (320p) ISBN 978-1-59514-273-3

In this sequel to You Are So Dead to Me, Jay keeps the action moving at a brisk clip. Sixteen-year-old Megan Berry, a powerful zombie Settler, is used to having her spells return the Undead to their graves without a fuss. Something's different this time, though—a new crop of zombies are not following the rules, and worse, Megan's Settler bosses think she's responsible for raising the zombies. With the help of her boyfriend, Ethan, and pom squad captain Monica, Megan works to clear her name and find the culprit. Along the way, she has to deal with her attraction to an Undead psychic, do her part to fend off cheerleaders trying to take the halftime shows away from the pom squad, and keep Arkansas from becoming the center of a zombie apocalypse. Jay's writing is light and engaging, and the characters are lively and likable (though some readers may want to shake Megan for her poor communication at times). While the plot hinges on events from the first book, the background is covered well enough that readers can start here without confusion. Ages 12–up. (Jan.)

City of Cannibals Ricki Thompson. Boyds Mills/Front Street, $18.95 (192p) ISBN 978-1-59078-623-9

Sixteenth-century London, with its squalor, stench, and bustle, is the real star of Thompson's first book, set against the backdrop of Henry VIII's break with the Catholic Church. Sixteen-year-old Dell has been taught by her drunken, abusive father that the city is truly overrun with cannibals. When he butchers her pet rabbit, Dell runs away and braves the city, seeking the mysterious Brown Boy, who has periodically left supplies for her isolated family. Though she finds no actual cannibals, London teems with dangers Dell does not understand, as the king's soldiers loot the churches and priests are executed in the public square. The Brown Boy, when she finds him, only draws her deeper into the incomprehensibility of city life. Thompson doesn't always believably balance Dell's many positive attributes—beauty, literacy, artistry—against the gross impoverishment, isolation, and brutality of her upbringing, which results in a somewhat overdrawn conflict between her innocence and the corruption of her world. Rare moments of kindness are like gasps of clean air before readers are plunged back into the fray. Ages 13–17. (Feb.)

What's Read and Drawn All Over?

Here are a few books for kids who like to color outside the lines and think outside the box.

Ants in Your Pants Yukiko Kido. Blue Apple (Chronicle, dist.), $12.99 paper(80p) ISBN 978-1-60905-004-7

Using people and animals that could have stepped out of a manga comic, this hands-on book introduces beginning readers/writers to word families in a clever, accumulative format. For words that use an "ug" sound, two figures hug in the first scene, next to another pair who do so on a rug; kids can fill in the "_ug on a _ug" blanks below, and answers appear at the top of each page. Each section gradually becomes more complex and interactive ("Put bugs in me!" shouts an empty mug). More than 200 stickers add to the enjoyment and help complete certain tasks, and repetition of rhymes and images help build recognition. Very smart and very fun. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)

My Beastly Book of Monsters Arnaud Boutin. Owl Kids (PGW, dist.), $13.95 paper (120p) ISBN 978-1-897349-81-6

In this lively book, first published in France, readers are invited to embellish, interact with, and color in more than 150 silly-rather-than-scary monsters. Each monster is labeled with a descriptive tagline in the upper corner of each page for easy browsing (for example, "Bad Hair Day"). Readers are asked to throw a crayon at one monster's bull's-eye belly, draw clothes for a four-armed monster, cut out one page to make a paper airplane ("send these monsters far away. Very far away"), and wrap another monster in bandages at the "Monster Hospital." Kids should enjoy the simple, imaginative activities offered by this zany menagerie. Ages 4–up. (Mar.)

I Love Words Françoize Boucher. EDC/Kane Miller, $14.99 paper (124p) ISBN 978-1-935279-48-8

Challenging kids to experiment with words and writing, this interactive book, designed to look as though it was written in freehand, resembles a very busy school notebook. Open-ended writing assignments ("What are your favorite magic words?") appear alongside musings about language ("You're ugly," "You stink," and other phrases appear on knives beneath the heading "Sometimes, words hurt"). The book first came out in France, and a few activities get lost in translation: a spread asks kids to correct errors on food packages, and the answers are neither given nor apparent. A couple of suggestions may raise some eyebrows (such as creating fake swear words and a writing prank involving toilet paper), but kids will appreciate the occasional edginess. Ages 8–12. (Mar.)

Write On!

Young scribes may find the tools they need with these guides to the craft.

Spilling Ink: A Young Writer's Handbook Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter, illus. by Matt Phelan. Roaring Brook/Flash Point, $16.99 (288p) ISBN 978-1-59643-514-8; $9.99 paper ISBN 978-1-59643-628-2

This playful guide for aspiring writers aims to demystify the creative process as it explores first drafts and finding inspiration, the meat and potatoes of writing, and writer's block and criticism. Mazer (the Sister Magic series) and Potter (the Olivia Kidney books) challenge readers to dig deep into their characters, make a "mental compost pile" to find inspiration, and face revision head on, while modeling their own approaches. "I get ideas while waiting in lines, staring at the clouds, or lying sick in bed," says Mazer; demonstrating how to build suspense, Potter shares the true story ("with a few embellishments") of a robber hanging from her neighbor's terrace. Phelan's ink illustrations and a lighthearted humor enliven the text, and honest advice, such as "Your character's heart's desire is what propels your story forward," are cogent and invaluable. Ages 9–14. (Mar.)

Juicy Writing: Inspiration and Techniques for Young Writers Brigid Lowry. Allen & Unwin (IPG/Trafalgar Sq., dist.), $10.99 paper (216p) ISBN 978-1-74175-048-5

"Writing is a bit like gardening," suggests New Zealand author Lowry (Things You Either Hate or Love), in this holistic handbook that has a touch of Zen. Thoughtful and affirmative reflections on the joys and challenges of the craft address topics like finding inspiration in the everyday, fundamentals of story and character, and healing through writing. Exercises such as "invent new meanings for common words," writing samples, and prompts encourage readers to put pen to page. It's a sensitive guide for writers just starting out, but frequent references to literary figures (for example, William Gass took photographs of seedy New York scenes to get in the mood) and gentle humor (why being a writer is good: "You get to act stranger than most people and it's considered okay, because you're a writer") should please more seasoned wordsmiths, too. Ages 14–up. (Dec.)

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Book Reviews

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

“Buttonwood hosts workshop for writers - Abington Mariner” plus 4 more

“Buttonwood hosts workshop for writers - Abington Mariner” plus 4 more

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